AnaMarwan.com

I grew up reading the Harry Potter series, and ultimately that got me into reading. But over the years, I found myself in a deep reading slump. I just haven’t been able to finish a book, or continue my reading streak and I always blame it on not having the time to read (which wasn’t always true).

For the past few years, I told myself I was going to read at least 5 books by the end of the year — a sad amount, but it’s huge for someone who has been in a reading slump for about 5-7 years. Fortunately, it’s July and I’m proud to say I have surpassed the 5-book reading challenge by reading 7 books! Yey! So… what helped me out of my reading slump?

Force reading
Sounds a bit scary but that’s exactly what I did. One day, I stood in front of my (sad) shelf and picked out a book I wanted to read. It was ‘The Knife of Never Letting Go’ by Patrick Ness, the first in the ‘Chaos Walking’ trilogy. Dude, it was hard to force myself to sit still and read the freaking book, but I’m glad I did because I loved it. And the minute I finished the book, I felt super relieved. And liberating. It’s like feeling a huge boulder has been lifted off my shoulders, and it’s such an amazing feeling.

Download a book logging app
…like Goodreads. I find that tracking down the things I do helps with establishing a sort of routine or habit, and it’s mostly due to wanting to tell what I’m doing right now to the whole bloody world (who probably doesn’t give two shits about what I’m doing). I do it to the films I’ve watched (Letterboxd) and the series I’m currently watching (Trakt.tv). I get to make reviews which would inspire me to take my time to digest the story I’m currently reading so I can tell the world world why I love this book so much.

Check out the bookish community on Instagam and Youtube
You’ll find there’s a huge amount of bookstagrammers and booktubers that will keep you up to date with the latest YA titles with pretty photos of books. That inspired me to take up reading again. I want to read what other people are enjoying and I want to be able to discuss about them with others, show people what I’m currently enjoying as well. And that’s also why I started filming myself talking about books. Some tags for you to check out on Instagram: #bookish #bookstagrammers

Read ’em then Pin ’em
I discovered a slew of book-related posts on Pinterest, including book charts. Like, a chart that’ll help you figure out what to read next according to your favourite genre. I think that influenced some of my recent purchases. I mean, just a simple search for ‘books’ would lead you so many pins about reading challenges, must-read books, pretty pictures of books and you’ll likely to find a new book to read!

Spend money 
Yes. I feel like this has been very very effective. I think in June-July alone I’ve spent more than RM300 on books and I have no regrets (unless I don’t read them). I feel like having that nagging thought in my head that reminds me of the amount that I’ve splurged on books will motivate me to read the book from cover to cover, and kick reading slump on its ass. And so far, it’s working ha ha ha.

These are the things that worked for me. I wouldn’t say I’m 100% out of it, but I’m getting there. If you have your own way of getting out of a reading slump, share them in the comments!